A message sent by a Naperville social studies teacher to a reporter on the other side of the world ended with a lesson on life in North Korea for his students.

Jefferson Junior High teacher Chris Heffernan said that a few weeks ago students in his seventh-grade classes were studying North Korea, with a focus on human rights issues in the country.

Getting accurate information about life in the country can be a challenge because North Korea is such a closed society, he said.

But kismet was on his side.

That very week, CNN's Will Ripley was reporting from North Korea, offering a rare, inside look at the country as it was celebrating the 75th birthday of its late leader Kim Jong Il.

"He was there at the same time. It was absolutely dumb luck," Heffernan said.

After watching current CNN footage in class, Heffernan said he messaged Ripley on a whim to see if the reporter would be willing to talk via Skype to some of his students.

"I never expected to hear back from him, but two hours later he replied that he'd talk to the kids," Heffernan said.

The teacher said the biggest challenge was coordinating a time to chat.

Not only did the two need to take into account the 14-hour time difference between Naperville and Tokyo, where Ripley is based, but also, Heffernan said, the recent switch to daylight saving time added another level of confusion.

An hour before first bell rang Thursday morning, about 25 seventh-graders sat in a classroom, questions in hand, waiting for the opportunity to converse across the globe.

Heffernan said the 45-minute question-and-answer session with Ripley turned out far better than he expected.

"I have never talked directly with Will Ripley; I've only messaged him. I didn't have a clue how he would interact with the students," he said.

Ripley's candor about gender roles, patriotism, poverty and internet access captivated students the entire time and even caused some to rethink their perceptions.

Seventh-grader Gigi Going said the talk about the living conditions in North Korea and how and where the people get their food and supplies was interesting.

"We didn't know the details, and it was really cool to hear that," Gigi said.

Ripley told students that while North Korea has grocery stores, few people shop at them.

"(The people) tend to buy most of their stuff at these underground markets that exist. The government knows they exist and allows them to exist. But they don't like us to film it because they don't want people to see active capitalism," Ripley told the students.

While most of North Korean television features news, documentaries and movies about the country's leaders and history, Ripley said, the five television stations occasionally broadcast sporting events or Russian-produced shows.

Although rare, some American programs have made the cut. " 'Sound of Music,' most North Koreans have seen that," he said.

Student Rachel Wand said she was surprised to hear people act differently on camera than they do in person when they're not being taped.

"He said they are a little more free than what we see," she said.

Ripley said he doesn't think most North Koreans actually hate America, though on camera they say the United States is evil and an imperialist country.

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"They almost repeat verbatim the lines that they hear on their propaganda … what they read in the state-controlled newspaper or what they watch on state-run television," Ripley said.

"And then when the camera is off, they'll say, 'Oh, I'm really sorry that I said that. I hope you don't take it personally. You seem really nice.' "

He said he's found that to be the case in many countries that are hostile to the United States. "On a person-to-person level, people usually are pretty friendly and don't necessarily hold a grudge against the American people, just the government and its policies," he said to the seventh-graders.